


Reassurance

by Celja



Series: Hikari [5]
Category: SUGURI (Video Games)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-18 14:00:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29119356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Celja/pseuds/Celja
Summary: After having a chat with some friends, Hikari decides to ask Yukito about their relationship
Relationships: Yukito/Hikari
Series: Hikari [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1868206





	Reassurance

The sounds of boots stepping over dirt and twigs are the only things keeping the sleep deprived conscious of a young Hikari tied down to this realm. She was resting on the top of her father’s while fighting a losing battle with herself trying to stay awake. There was a bounce to his stride that was a bit hypnotic but the inconsistent rhythm of steps would throw Hikari off guard and incapable of falling asleep. The reason for this journey was that Hikair’s parents wanted to see the first sunrise of the new year. It wasn’t exactly a tradition but was something they thought would be a memorable experience for Hikari. The evening leading up to the trek Hikari thought she could tough it out and pull an all-nighter. She underestimated how much her 6 year old body required sleep and passed out at the 12:30am mark.

When she woke after that, she found herself in the family car which had just parked in an empty parking lot. Her father shut off the engine to the car, looked over and said something to Hikari’s mother who was sitting in the passenger seat, and then looked behind at Hikari. Hikari was still coming to and she was able to register that her dad said something to her but she couldn’t decipher anything. She groggily swayed her head back and forth and looked out the window to see where they were at. It was dark save for a few streetlights that were placed along the corners of the small lot. By the time Hikari realized what was going on, her mom had come around and opened up her door and helped her out of the car. After stepping on the pavement and holding her mother’s hand, she took her other arm and rubbed her eyes to try to shake off the tiredness. Her mother led her to the front of the car where her father was waiting with a flashlight in hand.

“Hey Hikari, you have a nice nap?” Hikari’s dad asked while looking down at her with a cheerful smile. The best Hikari could muster at the time was an agreeable grunt as she nodded her head slowly. Her father then reached a hand down and Hikari grabbed it with the hand that wasn’t already preoccupied with her mother’s hand.

“It will be a short hike, but we’re going to be seeing the first sunrise of the year.” Hikari heard her dad mention. “There’s a little location up here that should be a great spot to see the sunrise.” The three of them started walking along a little uphill path through the park.

Hikari’s body was more awake after walking, but her mind was still craving rest. She was still holding her parents hands as they all continued forward. Her parents muttered something to each other but Hikari didn’t bother trying to listen in on what they were saying. She clamped a bit tighter on her mother’s hand and yawned deeply. She heard a quiet giggle come from her mom and everyone paused. The next thing she knew, her dad was picking her up over his head and placing her on his shoulders. The sudden movement and change of altitude jolted Hikari awake. She took a survey around the trail they were on since she now had a bigger scope of her surroundings. Everything was still dark outside of the scenery that was being lit up by the flashlight that her mom was now holding.

“Are you okay up there Hikari?” She heard her father ask. Hikari tried looking up through the tree canopy but the sky was still a deep blueish black.

“Mhmm.” Hikari acknowledged as the three then continued on the path to make their way to the destination.

Hikari ended up dozing off here and there but came to notice that they had eventually stopped moving. Hikari lifted her head to see a break in the trees that looked out amongst an open field. There was a great view of the horizon despite it still being pretty dark, however the sky was a bit brighter compared to when they got out of the car.

“I’m going to let you down now, okay Hikari?”

Hikari was lifted off her father’s shoulders and then placed on the ground. She felt the dirt and grass compact under her boots and she took a look around. It was starting to get brighter, albeit the surrounding area was still very dark. Hikari noticed her mother sitting down on a blanket and she walked over to sit down next to her.

“How are you doing sweetie?” Hikari felt a gentle hand place itself on the top of her hand and begin to caress her softly.

“Kinda tired” Hikari blurted out as she started to get almost hypnotised by the soft touch of her mother. She heard a small laugh from her mom as Hikari looked out towards the world. Hikari’s father came by and sat down next to Hikari. He leaned in close to her, checked his wristwatch, and started whispering to her.

“In about… 15 minutes or so” her father started as he pointed out towards the horizon. “The sun should start rising in that area.” Hikari followed her line of sight along the direction her father pointed out and tried making a note where the sun was supposed to pop out. Hikari then realized there wasn’t much to really do besides wait. She didn’t think there was much excitement to be had over seeing the sun come up. She’s seen the sun a number of times but didn’t think it was a big deal or anything, but apparently this was. 

Hikari passed the time by chatting with her parents about anything that came to mind. The tv show she watched yesterday, why she thought certain colors were more fun to look at than others, the dreams she had on the way here, anything that would help keep her mind busy. There was even this one weird dream she had about a talking girl dog who went on a grand adventure to save something dear to her.

After finishing up her and beginning to talk about something else, Hikari paused as she began to notice a change of color around her. Birds became a lot more audible as Hikari had stopped talking over them. She felt her father lay a hand on her shoulder and direct her attention towards “the spot.” Hikari looked over and noticed something unusual for her.

She saw a red dot at the horizon. She didn’t think that was the sun, the sun was yellow in her mind. Hikari continued watching in silence with her parents as they basked in the sunrise. The sky gradually became a lighter shade of blue as time went on. The little red dot elevated higher and higher as marks of orange and yellow rose along with it. Hikari became stunned by the scope of this color evolution that was happening in front of her. Her entire mind was focused on capturing and retaining the sunrise into her memory banks. It was the most beautiful and mesmerizing thing she had ever seen. The world was waking up and Hikari got to see it all happen instead of it being the other way around in which the world woke her up.

  
  


Hikari didn’t even realize her mouth was open agape from witnessing this wonder until she had to swallow. The whole scene was breathtaking to her. No one made a sound for a good while, everyone was too busy taking the scenery in. At this point, Hikari had stepped off the blanket and was standing in front of her parents who were still sitting down. 

Hikari then picked up a strange noise off in the distance behind her. It sounded like a wail or loud engine kind of noise. She turned around to try to get a better judge of where it was coming from. The sound was growing louder and louder and then next thing she knew, some sort of aircraft flew over her head at high speed. Hikari watched it fly off into the distance as it’s thunderous engine sound whizzed by them. Hikari turned back around to talk to her parents about what just flew over their heads but was quickly perplexed at what was now in her field of vision. Her parents were further back then she remembered and up above in the sky was now another big red dot. This one was much larger than the sun and almost looked like it was growing in size. Hikari’s eyes were glued on the object as it continued on it’s path in the sky. While not as fast as that flying object from before, it still traveled at a quick speed but was also much lower than the earlier thing. Hikari could only watch as it impacted the land with a fierce crash and created a massive dust cloud. Hikari was unable to look away as the resulting shockwave sent a deafening burst of noise and a wave of fire towards her. She watched in confusion and disarray as it all came closer and closer. Hikari raising an arm out to the flames, wondering if it was really tangible until a voice shouted out from behind her.

“HIKARI-” 

* * *

Hikari jolted awake to find herself breathing heavily and her arm stretched outwards reaching up at the ceiling. After a couple more ragged breaths she brought her arm back down and rubbed her face. She replayed the last few bits of the dream back in her head and took one good deep breath before getting herself to calm down.

"God damnit, not again." Hikari muttered to herself.  _ It’s been a while since I had a dream like that.  _ Well it was really half dream-half memory. It was something Hikari tried to keep down in the bottom of her mind and didn’t like dwelling on. She continued to lie in bed while debating to herself if she could even fall back asleep after that experience. After lying down with her eyes closed for several minutes, she gave up and raised her torso off the bed. She took a look outside the window to her right.

Grey, that's all the scenery ever is around here now. With the war continuing for who knows how long, it's also hard to imagine it ending any time soon. The world was once a very beautiful and colorful place, she'd seen it herself. She'll never forget all the wonderful colors and breathtaking clouds she saw on that day of the sunrise. It was as if a legendary painter was using the sky as his canvas and he was tasked to use every color known to man. Now the sky is blanketed in a dark, dreary sea of greys and blacks. Hikari took her gaze away from the window and reached over towards her phone that was plugged into a charger.

_ 8:34am  _ the clock on the phone displayed. Hikari sighed and considered what she should do next. She wanted to get her mind off this and get into a better mood. After pondering things over for a few moments, she figured she may as well get up and start her day even if she typically wouldn't get up for another couple of hours. She figured maybe if she was active it might do something.

* * *

After making and cleaning up breakfast, taking a nice long shower, and getting dressed, Hikari was now sitting back on her bed and fiddling on her phone. It was almost 11am and she didn't have any plans for the day. It was the weekend and she was wondering if anyone would be willing to hang out. After scrolling through her handful of contacts, she came to a realization on something important. 

_ 'Hey are you free today? Would you want to meet up and get some lunch or something?' _

Hikari sent as a text then opened up her phone's internet browser to pass the time until she got a response back.

_ 'Yeah I'm down. What did you have in mind?' _

* * *

Hikari was sitting in a booth in a small cafe. Sitting across was her friend Rose who was sipping on an iced coffee. The two of them had already finished their meals and have now just been relaxing in their seats.

Rose is a friend of Hikari's where they met and got close during their time together in basic training. Her real name is Fushia but she just has everyone call her “Rose” as she feels it’s easier. Rose is a year older than Hikari, has short black hair, and has magenta colored eyes. While Hikari went for a more general soldier route, Rose is more of a tech freak and joined the military as a mechanic since she loves tinkering with machines. She's a gear head who can be a bit brash at times, but has good intentions and looks out for her friends. She's a relaxed person, dependable, and has a younger sister named Riza who’s also made friends with Hikari.

"You said Riza was meeting up with us right? Have you heard anything from her?." Rose asked while twirling her straw around in a circle.

Hikari pulled out her phone from her pocket and examined the screen for updates. “She said she’s on her way over and she sent the message about 5 minutes ago, so I’d imagine she’ll be here soon.” Hikari set her phone down on the table.

"Gotcha" Rose responded as she watched Hikari place her phone down. Rose wasn’t focusing on anything in particular but she caught a good glimpse of Hikari’s phone wallpaper before the screen turned off. Rose grew a sly grin and started sliding her straw up and down. “Well that’s a cute picture.”

Hikari was confused at what Rose was referring to. “What picture?”

Rose’s smile grew larger as she pointed to Hikari’s device. "The one on your phone. That looked an awful lot like you.”

Hikari got caught off guard and couldn’t figure out how to react outside of blushing and stuttering. She knew exactly what Rose was talking about now. It was during the last time she was hanging out with Yukito.They were about to go their separate ways when Hikari wanted to take a photo with him. They posed for a selfie and she ended up using the picture as her phone wallpaper. Even though Yukito was the entire reason she wanted to meet up with Rose and Riza, it was embarrassing to have the news revealed like this.

Hikari took a deep breath and exhaled loudly. “Yeah, that’s me.” Hikari looked down bashfully.

Right after Hikari acknowledged the photo, a bell sound jingled throughout the store. A girl with magenta colored hair that was tied into a ponytail walked in and started surveying the area. She made visual contact with Rose and Hikari sitting down and started making her way to their table.

“Hey, sorry I’m late. There was a- Oh my gosh Hikari your face is all red!”The girl shouted as she stopped halfway through sitting down in her seat. “Are you okay?”

“Sshhh!” Hikari hissed out with a finger over lips. She then sighed and looked at the girl who took her seat next to Rose. “Hey Riza. I’m fine.”

Riza is Rose’s younger sister. She’s about 2 years younger than Rose and if you didn’t know any better you’d think she’s still a child. She’s on the shorter end compared to Hikari and Rose but she also has the most energy out of all of them. While Rose is more calm and cool, Riza is much more outgoing, bubbly, and full of energy. She’s a happy go lucky girl who’s very much into anything cute. Her and Rose have very similar eye colors, but Rose’s eyes have a brighter red tint while Riza’s eyes are more dark and purplish. Riza took up nursing in the hopes that she could help people who’ve suffered during the war or whatever hardships they might be experiencing. Riza heard Rose got a job in the military as a mechanic and since she loves her sister Rose more than anyone, she wanted to keep an eye on her and make sure she would be safe.

Rose chuckled and looked over at Riza who still had a worried look plastered on her face. “Heya Riza. Hikari’s beet red since I figured out her little secret.”

Riza looked back and forth at Hikari then at Rose and then back at Hikari. “Secret? What’s going on?”

All eyes were now on Hikari who glanced at Rose then over at Riza. “So the thing is... I’ve been seeing this guy and-”

“What?!" Riza shouted which caused Rose to flinch. "Since when?!” 

"It's been about a little over a month now." Hikari mentioned as she started bashfully kicking her feet under the table.

Riza crossed her arms and pouted excessively hard. "And you're only telling us now? Some friends we are." Riza said sarcastically.

"I'm sorry, a lot happened so fast and I didn't really know how to bring it up." Hikari spoke out while poking her index fingers together. Riza giggled at Hikari’s bashful reaction and smiled at her.

"Oh but wait." Riza turned her gaze from Hikari over to Rose. "How did you learn about this Rose?" 

Without saying a word Rose peeked over in Hikari's direction and noticed Hikari had let her guard down. Rose quickly swiped at Hikari's phone that was still on the table in a way so that it slid across and over to their side. Before Hikari registered what Rose had done, Rose had already tapped on the phone which turned on the screen to reveal the evidence. Riza looked down at the photo as Hikari let out a shriek of fear and shame. Hikari lunged out to grab her phone but it was already too late, Riza had ingrained the photo in her mind.

"Awww, you guys are cute." Riza said sweetly like she just saw a pack of puppies. "How'd you meet him?" Riza asked.

"I've had a few classes with him before and I just decided to talk to him one day. We ended up hanging out and next thing we know, we just kept meeting up."

Rose put her elbows on the table and rested her head in her hands. "So are you guys like, a thing?" Rose teased.

Hikari went into a pondering state that she's gotten into a habit of doing.  _ We've gone on a few dates already but I've never asked Yukito what we are. I mean we’re pretty comfortable together, but I don’t want to jump the gun and go too fast with this. _

"Uh oh, she's got her thinking face on." Riza said. Hikari's prone to getting lost in thought and you can tell when she gets into it. She furrows her eyebrows, her eyes glaze over a bit, and she involuntarily puckers up her lips.

_ Are Yukito and I a thing?  _

“To be honest, I don’t know. We’ve never brought it up to each other.” Hikari mentioned.

“Well that’s gonna get brought up sooner or later. For all we know, this guy might just think you two are just being friends.” Rose spoke out.

“Yeah he might not even know you’re really into him.” Riza added. 

Hikari began thinking back to the dates they've had- they were actual dates right?  _ 'I thought I made it clear to him that I was interested in him. I mean the last time we met up, we were cuddling on my couch for like an hour or so.'  _ Hikari thought to herself. 

"Well before you start panicking and stressing out, try to get together with him soon and talk things out." Rose said.

"Yeah you're right." Hikari agreed.

Riza leaned in slightly. "Tell me more about this guy Hikari. What's his name, what is he like?"

Hikari wasn't sure where to start outside of telling his name. "His name is Yukito. He's a scientist and I think he's done work as an engineer." Hikari started to smile as she began talking more about him. "He's a sweet guy who's very passionate about his work. He's kind, caring, got a wonderful smile. He…" Hikari started to trail off as she started to envision Yukito in her head and reflected on their time together. "And he wants to help the planet."

"Aww, he sounds like a real nice guy." Riza remarked.

"No wonder you're attached to this Yukito guy." Rose added as she leaned back into the plastic cushion that was the booth. "Still, it's a lot of talk to say that considering how crap the world is right now."

"He means it!" The outburst created a moment of silence at the table until Hikari spoke out again. "He wants to help the planet, I can tell. He gets this determined look in his eyes whenever he talks about ending the war, or helping to restore the planet." Hikari declared.

Rose glanced at the wall their booth was attached to and took a second to piece together the information of this Yukito guy. "Well if he  _ can  _ do it one day, more power to him. It would be nice to see some color in the sky for once that's not from a picture or simulation."

"You should introduce us to Yukito sometime." Riza spoke out. "I'd like to meet him, he really does seem nice." Riza loves meeting new people. She's a very friendly girl and enjoys getting to know someone.

"Sure thing Riza. In fact, I'm gonna try to talk to him tonight and figure things out." Hikari mentioned.

"And no matter what happens, I'll always support you. Whether you need someone to talk to or a shoulder to cry on, I've got you Hikari." Riza declared while giving Hikari a confident smile.

"Riza I know you're trying to be sweet and all, but that wasn't very supportive." Rose suggested. “What was that about her crying to you, do you want her to get rejected?”

"I-I didn't mean it like that!" Riza panicked. "I just meant in general, like if she's ever sad or anything."

Rose and Riza started talking back and forth to each other and Hikari decided she'll try texting Yukito now to try to meet up and talk. When she opened up her phone she saw that she got a message.

_ "How have things been going with you and Yukito?" -Alte _

Rose noticed Hikari was typing on her phone. "You messaging Yukito?"

Hikari looked up and shook her head. "No, Alte messaged me."

"Alte?" Riza asked. "How do you two know each other?" 

"To be honest, I asked her for some advice." Hikari started to rub the back of her head. "It's embarrassing but I wanted some advice to make sure I wouldn't screw up with Yukito and I knew Alte was engaged, so I went and talked to her for advice." 

"Huh, that lady always seems so serious and uptight." Rose mentioned. "She wouldn't be the first person  _ I'd  _ go to for advice."

Riza quickly scooched right up next to Rose. "Yeah because you've got me right?" Riza looked up at Rose who smiled and patted Riza on her head. Hikari went back to responding to Alte.

_ "Everything's going alright with Yukito. Thanks Alte." _

After a minute or so Alte replied back.

_ "It's no problem at all. I'm glad things are going well for you. Let me know if you need anything else." _

_ "Will do. Thanks again Alte!"  _ Hikari sent out. No more messages came from Alte so Hikari then decided she'd message Yukito now. Alte didn’t seem so cold and distant after talking with her. Maybe it was from seeing another side to Alte. It was a more vulnerable and caring side to her usual serious demeanor. She took a little breath and started typing away at a message meant for Yukito now.

_ "Hey Yukito. You doing anything tonight?"  _ Hikari hit send and set her phone down on the table. Rosa was back to talking with Riza about something. Right as Hikari was able to tune into their conversation, her phone buzzed on the table. She picked it and checked it out.

_ "I didn't have any plans. Did you want to do something?" _ The text from Yukito read. Hikari began typing back on her phone in order to respond.

_ "Would you want to hang out tonight?"  _ Shortly after sending it, Hikari could tell Yukito was in the middle of typing something back.

_"Yeah that sounds nice."_ Yukito replied.

_ "You wanna come by my place tonight? We can hang out and do whatever."  _ Hikari began to feel her heartbeat increase a little. She's asked him out before, but this time felt so much more nerve racking.

_ "That sounds good to me. I'll swing by around 7 if that's alright." _

_ "That works for me. I'll see you then Yukito."  _ Hikari put her phone down again and realized that Rose and Riza were staring at her. They both had a smile on their face, but showed different emotions.

"Sooo?" Riza asked innocently like she already knew the answer to the question but wanted to hear it from Hikari anyway.

"Judging from that look on your face and how glued you were to that phone, I'd guess that was Yukito you were texting?" Rose questioned with a smug grin.

"Yeah. We're meeting up tonight at my place tonight." Hikari responded while trying her best to keep her smile in check.

"Wooo already inviting him to your place. I see you Hikari" Riza teased as she matched Rose's confident grin. You could cut the amount of smug these two were showing off with a knife but Hikari tried not to let it get to her.

"It's not gonna be like that." Hikari had a little pout to her cheeks. "We're just gonna hang out and talk like we usually have been doing."

"Uh huh. Just remember Hikari; 'Everything in moderation." Rose suggested as her smug look grew wider.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hikari asked as her cheeks got more flushed.

"It means what it means." Rose chuckled and then got a more relaxed and neutral expression. "But seriously, good luck with tonight. Let us know if you need anything." Rose added. Riza nodded in agreement with her sister's support.

Hikari could tell they were no being genuinely supportive of her. "Thanks you two. I appreciate it." With the date set for about 5 hours from now, the next thing on Hikari’s mind was to go home and get ready.

* * *

"Are you sure this is okay?" Hikari asked as she looked at the large mirror that was in her bedroom..

"Of course, you look adorable!" Riza complimented. "You look cute, but not  _ too  _ cute." Riza stepped back to admire her handiwork. Hikari said she didn't need any help but Riza insisted on helping Hikari pick out an outfit for the night. Her goal was something cute, casual, but not too over the top. Hikari took another glance in the mirror to observe her attire. Riza had picked out a white off the shoulder top, a pair of navy blue denim shorts, and a little black bow headband.

"I don't know, something just feels kinda off. Like I'm not really being myself. I mean we've already hung out a few times before" Hikari mentioned as she eyed Riza in the mirror who was acting like she was directing a photoshoot with her constant changing viewing angles and agreeing grunts. Riza was doing that thing where you make a rectangle with your hands by using both your thumb and index fingers into an “L” shape

"Don't worry about it Hikari. This is gonna be an important date for you so you need to look good!" Hikari took one last look at herself from top to bottom to regain her composure. Riza gently placed her hands on Hikari's shoulders from behind and checked out Hikari in the mirror. "I think my work here is done. How long do you have until your date?" Riza asked as she stepped away from Hikari and plopped her butt down on the bed next to her.

Hikari looked over at the clock that was resting on top of her dresser.  _ 6:34  _ it displayed in a dim red light. "I've got about 20 minutes till Yukito's supposed to be here." Hikari said as she turned around to face Riza. 

"Alright, I'm gonna head out then." Riza pushed herself off the bed and took a small step towards Hikari. "Remember to relax. I'm sure everything's going to go fine. I mean who wouldn't want to date a cutie like you?" Riza gave Hikari a good eyefull before she went through the bedroom door and into Hikari's living room. "Good luck tonight Hikari." Riza walked over to the door and slipped on her shoes and then grabbed her green hoodie that she came in with. "I want to hear all about it tomorrow, okay?" Riza unlocked and then opened the door.

"Of course, thank you Riza." Hikari waved goodbye to Riza. With one hand on the door handle, Riza waved back with her free hand before shutting the door behind her.

The room was now silent leaving Hikari to her lonesome. She had time to kill but wasn't sure what to do with it. Her and Riza spent the past few hours cleaning and straightening everything up. Then Riza played dress up using Hikari as her customizable toy. Hikari looked around the living room to see if anything needed a last minute adjustment. With everything seemingly in order Hikari decided the best thing to do would be to try to relax until Yukito got here. 

Hikari walked over and sat down at the couch that was facing her TV and grabbed the remote. Under normal circumstances she would just switch through the channels until she found something interesting. This time however she went straight to the one service that always managed to calm her nerves; her music library. Whenever she'd have to work on a long project, or really anything for that matter, Hikari would almost always have music playing whether it be through headphones or a stereo system. She enjoys a wide variety of genres but her favorites are the more relaxing and chill genres that she could turn her brain off and vibe to. She was cycling through the playlists she’s created on her TV and wanted to find one that would suit her current mood. After taking a couple minutes of surfing Hikari decided to go back to her good old reliable that was simply titled “Chill Vibes.” The TV took a second to load the playlist then booted up a random song. Hikari relaxed her body and let herself imprint into the couch. After getting comfy she was able to let her mind at ease and immerse herself into the soothing beats. The current song faded out after a few minutes and shortly after a new one started up. Hikari recognized this one and started bopping her head to the beat. She closed her eyes, stretched her arms along the headrests on the couch, and tilted her head back. A smile grew on her face as she started to tap her hand on the pillows in time with the bass while slowly rocking her head from side to side. 

Hikari continued this for the next few songs until a knocking at the door dragged her back to reality. Her heart skipped a beat and her head rushed back to a neutral position. She quickly turned down the music and pushed herself up off the sofa. 

"Coming!" Hikari said while making her way to the door and grabbing the knob. She swung the door open and Yukito was standing at the other side with a smile on his face.

"Hi Hikari." Yukito did a little wave before he stuck his hand back in the pocket of his black jacket.

"Hi Yukito, come on in." Hikari opened up her door further as she stepped to the side to make proper room for Yukito to enter. Yukito walked in the door and removed his shoes. Hikari shut the door behind Yukito and stepped next to him. "I can take your coat for you."

"Oh, thank you" Yukito removed his jacket and handed it to Hikari. She took a few steps over to the small coat closet and grabbed one of the empty hangers and began hanging it up. While Hikari was in the middle of messing around with Yukito's jacket, Yukito began to speak up.

"You look really cute in that."

Hikari froze momentarily then resumed putting the coat on the hanger. She was glad she was facing the other direction because that compliment caused her cheeks to turn red. "T-Thank you." was all Hikari could muster out while trying to get herself to calm down. She then turned around and saw Yukito was still standing in the doorway.

"Come sit down and make yourself comfortable." Hikari waved Yukito over to the empty sofa that still retained some of Hikari’s body heat. Yukito stepped over and sat in the middle of the 3 cushioned couch. Hikari then came over and sat down next to him. The song that was playing during Yukito's arrival finished playing and during the brief silence period in between songs Yukito began to speak up.

"I didn't know you liked this kind of music." Yukito turned his head towards Hikari.

"Do you not like it? I can change it or turn it off if you'd like." Hikari hoped that Yukito wasn't put off by her choice of tunes.

"It's fine actually. I've never heard that artist before but I liked the song that was just playing." The next song in Hikari’s playlist started up and Yukito turned his attention at the TV to see who was playing now.

"What kind of music do you usually listen to Yukito?" Hikari asked while trying to guess what answer he might give.

Yukito took a moment to think before responding to Hikari. "Well I guess most of the stuff I listen to would be a mixture of stuff like rock, blues, or jazz."

Hikari perked up out from the couch a bit since she took him for more of a techno or EDM kinda guy. "Really? I had a phase where I was into some jazz and rock groups." She pressed back into her seat and looked at the TV. "But I kinda stopped listening to that stuff and moved on to stuff like this."

“I gotcha. Is this what you normally listen to?” Yukito asked as he made a mental note about the artist information that was being broadcasted on the screen.

“Generally yeah. I listen to a variety of music but I come back to this stuff the most. Chill-hop, synth-wave, trip-hop, that sort of thing. I like the calm stuff that’s got a good beat to it.”

The two didn’t share another word and let the rest of the song play out uninterrupted. The following song was by one of Hikari’s favorite artists and once she heard the opening melody to it she mentally popped off a little bit. Any remaining feelings of anxiousness and unease Hikari had were washed away by the music being pumped out from the sound system of the TV. She was at peace until she felt Yukito get up off the couch.

“I’m gonna grab some water, is that alright?”

Hikari looked up and met his gaze. “Yeah go ahead, make yourself feel at home.”

Yukito nodded and walked over to the kitchen. As he opened the refrigerator door, Hikari began thinking to herself. 

_ Is this okay? What if Yukito doesn’t want to be in a relationship and he’s just being friendly? If I ask him about our relationship is that going to make things awkward between us? _

“Hikari?” Yukito’s name call brought Hikari out from her thoughts.

“Sorry, what’s up?” Hikari responded as she pivoted her sight back towards Yukito who was standing in front of the open fridge.

“Did you want anything?” Yukito asked with a bottle of water in his hand.

“Could you grab me a water?” Hikari requested as she began to feel silly about getting caught spacing out like that. Yukito nodded and reached in the fridge again and pulled another bottle of water out with his free hand. He then closed the door with the back of one of his hands and walked back to the couch.

_ No, the worst that could happen is that he’s not interested. I need to get this off my chest and this is the best time to do it.  _ Hikari prepped herself by closing her eyes and taking a deep breath.

“You okay?” Yukito asked as he sat back down and handed a bottle of water out towards Hikari.

Hikari opened her eyes and then reached over and grabbed the water from Yukito. “Yeah I’m okay, thanks.” Hikari wrapped both her hands around the bottle and recollected herself. “Is there something I could ask you Yukito?” Yukito was in the middle of taking a drink but Hikari could feel Yukito’s eyes look over at her. She couldn’t bring herself to look back at him and stared at the TV.

“Sure.” Yukito could tell there was some unease in Hikari’s voice. “Is something wrong?”

Hikari began to squeeze the bottle harder as she struggled to find the right words to start with. If she didn’t say something she was bound to crush the plastic bottle and make a mess of things in more ways than one.

“Can I ask you about… us?” Hikari forced out as she tried to keep up a poker face.

“Us?” Yukito set the water down on the small coffee table in front of them. “What about us?”

Hikari wished she didn’t have to spell it out but for the sake of clearing things up she figured it was inevitable. “I mean us, together. I know we’ve hung out together a lot this past month or so but like… what are we?” Hikari now managed to look over at Yukito who still had a more puzzled look on his face. “Are we dating? Are we…” Hikari began to trail off as she watched Yukito’s expression change as he began to realize where this conversation was heading. Hikari could feel her heart pounding inside her chest. Yukito had a bit of a flush to his cheeks and he turned his gaze away from Hikari. Every second that Yukito didn’t respond, Hikari only grew more nervous and her heart continued beating hard. Hikari stopped looking at Yukito and returned back to looking towards the TV. Now assuming the worst, she closed her eyes and prepared to deal with rejection.”

“Hikari.” Yukito spoke out. Hikari then opened her eyes back up and turned back towards Yukito. Her eyes were captured on Yukito who was now much closer to Hikari. Before Hikari could register how close Yukito was to her, Yukito closed the gap between them and pressed his lips onto hers. Hikari couldn’t comprehend what was going on and became over-stimulated. After a moment of her mind racing back and forth to make sure she was still in reality, Hikari was able to “relax” her mind at least and relish this moment. After what felt like a minute, the two of them separated their interlocking lips and stared at each other. Hikari could still feel her heart beating but now it was for a much happier reason.

“I like you Hikari. I like you a lot.” Yukito began saying with a soft but confident expression on his face. “I’d be happy to call you my girlfriend if you’re okay with it.”

Hikari grew a wide smile on her face and nodded. “Of course I’m okay with it.” Hikari then let her head fall onto Yukito’s shoulder. While her heart was still racing, she could finally rest easy now that this was all water under the bridge. Hikari thought to herself that she was silly for overthinking about this, but she’s glad she was able to clear it up. Yukito carefully grabbed Hiari’s hand with his and she returned with a soft grip of her own. Yukito angled his head to lay it ontop of Hikari’s and the two of them now sat in harmony through a countless number of songs absorbing each other’s warmth and comfort.

“Though I did promise that I would introduce you to some friends of mine if today went well.” Hikari eventually spoke up.

“Oh? Are you going to introduce me as your boyfriend to them?” Yukito teased as he used his thumb to rub the back of Hikari’s hand.

“Obviously.” Hikari remarked confidently as she raised her head off of Yukito’s shoulder. Hikari was going to add more to her comment but instead she got lost into Yukito’s serene looking eyes. She could tell that Yukito was happy, it was the happiest she had seen him look. Hikari leaned forward and this time she was the one who initiated a kiss. Hikari slowly but firmly pressed her lips against Yukito’s. After a few seconds Hikari broke away from their contact and resumed smiling at Yukito. 

“Say, how do you feel about grabbing some dinner?” Hikari asked while keeping her eyes locked on Yukito.

“I’d like that.” Yukito kept maintaining eye contact with Hikari who’s smile seemed to continue growing. “What do you have in mind?”

“Hmm…” Hikari began pondering and then an idea struck her. “Tell you what; How about we stay in, order a pizza, and watch a movie together?”

“Sounds great to me. What movie were we gonna watch?” Yukito asked before getting a drink from his water.

Hikari had an excited look on her face as she had been waiting for Yukito to ask that. “So how about this one movie that’s about...” Hikari begins to describe the synopsis of the movie with wonder and excitement on her face as she pulls out her phone to put in the pizza order. The two of them would come to spend a long night together with each other with a new found confidence in their relationship. This night was the first of countless nights of movie-watching and takeout-eating of the now official couple. It was an eventful day for Hikari and one that would play out as a big stepping stone towards creating that ideal future both Hikari and Yukito have been dreaming to create.


End file.
